


.chesuto!

by AkaToMidori



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: AU, Comedy, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-11
Updated: 2020-01-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:34:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22213393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AkaToMidori/pseuds/AkaToMidori
Summary: Sho stepped forward. “I’d like to leave my dog for the day.”“Of course,” she chirped. “You’re a fist time customer, aren’t you? Why don’t I give you a tour of the facilities so you can decide if they’re to your liking?”“There’s no need,” Sho heard Nino say all of a sudden. “From what I can see the facilities aredefinitelyto his liking.”
Relationships: Aiba Masaki/Sakurai Sho
Comments: 4
Kudos: 31
Collections: Sakuraiba Tanabata 2019-2020





	.chesuto!

**Author's Note:**

> _Jan 11_  
>  Prompt: “Are you really going to leave without asking me the question you’ve been dying to ask me?”

“Remind me why you got a dog in the first place?” Nino, his co-worker and best friend, was particularly nagging that morning. Sho had just moved in in the same building where his friend lived, so they had decided to take just one car to work, and were now walking together to the doggy daycare across the street.

“It’s not my dog, I told you.” Sho repeated for the fifth time only that morning while trying to pull the aforementioned stubborn animal across the pavement. “It’s my sister’s, but she’s on her honeymoon right now, so I’m taking care of him until she gets back.”

They crossed the automatic doors of the building and entered into the most colorful and chaotic place Sho had ever seen. There was some sort of ambient deodorizer in the air, but even that couldn’t completely mask the scent of at least a dozen dogs playing in the bullpen, assisted by three or four caretakers.

Carefully pulling on the leash of his own dog, who was still trying to plant his paws in the floor as if he had suddenly grown roots, Sho approached the counter with Nino in tow.

There was a woman behind the counter who welcomed him with a warm smile on her lip-gloss colored lips. Her name-tag read ‘Ishihara Satomi.’ “Welcome to Shimura’s Doggycare, how may I help you?” she said, looking at both of them happily.

Sho stepped forward. “I’d like to leave my dog for the day.”

“Of course,” she chirped. “You’re a fist time customer, aren’t you? Why don’t I give you a tour of the facilities so you can decide if they’re to your liking?”

“There’s no need,” Sho heard Nino say all of a sudden. “From what I can see the facilities are _definitely_ to his liking.” He turned around confused, and saw his friend grinning as he looked over at the bullpen.

“That’s great!” Ishihara was saying, nonplussed. She handed him a paper and a pen, “Please fill this form with the required info.”

Sho took the pen and wrote down every information needed, from his name, to his phone number, to another emergency contact in case they couldn’t reach him – and there, he wrote down Nino’s contact information sneakily, nervously glancing at him and hoping he wouldn’t find out. When he was done he gave back the form to the woman, who made sure that everything was properly filled.

“So this is Chesuto,” she said, reading the dog’s name.

Sho felt his cheeks grow warmer when the dog looked up as he heard the familiar syllables of his name. ‘Chesuto’ was the name Sho had given to his sister’s stuffed dog when they were little. When Mai and her would-be-husband moved in together the year before and got a dog, she decided to call him like her old stuffed toy “for old time’s sake.” Not out of affection, mind you, but to mess with her older brother, who felt embarrassed every time he had to hear that name.

Oblivious to Sho’s internal turmoil and train of thoughts, Ishihara kept talking. “Don’t worry, Sakurai-san, we’ll take great care of your furry four-legged friend.”

Sho followed her gaze down to Chesuto, and noticed him staring up at her unimpressed, a warning growl escaping his muzzle.

“I’m sorry, he’s very wary of strangers,” Sho said, apologetically.

“No need to worry,” Ishihara said cheerily. “I have just the guy for that. Aiba-san!”

One of the people in the bullpen stood up from where he was playing with one of the dogs and started to carefully dodge animals and toys so that he could join them. He was a bit taller than Sho, dressed in a white t-shirt and blue overalls, and wearing the brightest smile he’d ever seen. As he heard Nino’s muffled laugh coming from his right, Sho supposed that’s what he meant with his comment earlier. 

Ishihara gestured for him to go ahead, and they met the caretaker in the middle of the room. Up close, Sho noticed that the man’s smile reached his eyes in the form of little eye wrinkles peppered all around them.

“Sakurai-san,” the woman was saying in her chirpy voice, “this is Aiba-san, he will take care of your dog. He is the best, so you can be sure that he will be well cared for. Well, I’ll leave you to it and collect your payment on your way out.” And with those last words, she left to go back to the counter.

“Nice to meet you, Sakurai-san,” the man named Aiba said while bowing slightly. “And who do we got here?” his smile, if possible, became even brighter while looking down at Sho’s dog.

He hesitated. “This is... Chesuto.”

Aiba giggled. “That’s a peculiar name.”

Sho didn’t feel any malice in his words, but he felt a bit flustered anyway, especially after having heard that breathy laugh coming from the other man and finding it very pleasant to his ears.

Aiba had now squatted down to acquaint himself with Chesuto, and Sho could already see the telltale movement in his tail that told him he was about to attack.

“Be careful,” he told the caretaker nervously. “He bites.” He held up four bandaged fingers to demonstrate.

Aiba suddenly put on a smirk when he looked up. “The dog or the boyfriend?” he asked nonchalantly, glancing quickly over at Nino. Sho glanced back too instinctively and saw that his friend was still waiting by the counter, leaning on it with his cellphone in his hands and hopefully, he prayed against all odds, _not_ taking pictures of this moment.

Sho, who had totally forgotten about his friend in those few seconds spent in the company of the caretaker, was completely dumbfounded by the implication. “N—no, he’s not... I mean...” he stuttered. “He’s my friend.”

Aiba’s grin turned back into a smile as he giggled again. “Don’t worry, Sakurai-san,” he said confidently, “I have a way with these things.”

“Things?”

“Nervous dogs,” he said, standing up smoothly. Then he looked over at him, and Sho felt more than saw Aiba’s gaze checking him out from head to toe. “Nervous owners, too.”

If Sho’s ears or his brain weren’t tricking him, the man’s voice had dropped down a whole octave for the seconds it took him to say those last three words. That, combined with the caretaker’s intense gaze on him and the fact that he clearly found the man very, _very_ attractive, contributed to sending shivers down his spine.

Without waiting for Sho to hand over the leash to him, the other man took it from his hand, finding no resistance. Sho felt Aiba’s slightly calloused hands brush over his fingers, prying them open gently but quickly.

“Ishihara-san probably informed you of this already, but all the caretakers at Shimura’s Doggycare are required to get a first-aid training in case anything happens to your pet, so rest assured that I will be able to care for Chesuto here in the best way possible.” Aiba’s tone was now back to normal, the crinkles around his eyes nothing but friendly and professional.

“Ah, that’s… good…” Sho said, a bit taken aback by the sudden change.

Aiba squatted down again. With a serious expression on his face, he offered his hand closed to a fist to Chesuto. The dog looked at it suspiciously at first, but then, to Sho’s greatest surprise, he sniffed Aiba’s hand carefully and thoroughly, and finally licked it briefly to signal his approval. Satisfied with that, Aiba reached in the pockets of his overalls to give him a treat.

“How did you do it?” Sho couldn’t hide the surprise in his voice. That man must have been a god. Since his sister brought Chesuto to his house two days ago he had been bitten countless times. Nino, who grew up with dogs and was used to dealing with them, also got bitten on his hand when they first met, and had declared war to what he dubbed ‘the rabid four-legged beast’ ever since, even going as far as threatening to poison his food.

Aiba, who was now petting Chesuto gently on the head, laughed softly. “It’s my job, Sakurai-san.” He got up again to Sho’s eye level and shrugged humbly. “It helps that animals seem to really like me.”

‘ _And their owners too, I bet,_ ’ thought Sho briefly.

“When will you be back for him?”

“Oh... Around seven this evening.” Sho’s voice got smaller, his mind already wandering to later today, wondering if he’d see the attractive caretaker again.

“Perfect,” Aiba said. 

Not knowing what else to say, Sho looked at the caretaker one last time and nodded awkwardly before he started turning around to walk away.

“Wait,” the other man said, grabbing his wrist. “Are you really going to leave without asking me the question you’ve been dying to ask me?” 

“What?” Sho croaked. 

Aiba smiled at him and Sho’s heartbeats accelerated. He wondered if the caretaker could feel them under his fingers, which were still wrapped around his wrist, and that thought was making him even more flustered. 

“My shift ends at around six today,” Aiba said. “That gives me plenty of time to freshen up and change so we can go and grab dinner together later.”

“Dinner!?” Sho was sure he had misunderstood. The hot dog-caretaker didn’t just ask him out, did he?

Aiba grinned and finally released his wrist. “I thought you’d have realized by now.” He leaned in. “I’m flirting with you,” he whispered confidently. Sho’s mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. “Don’t worry, Sakurai-san,” Aiba added, with what he supposed was a wink but looked more like a blink. “My two dogs will keep Chesuto company. See you at seven!”

And, without saying another word or even giving him the time to form a coherent reply, the man turned around pulling Chesuto with him to the bullpen, leaving his owner to stare at his muscular shoulders while he walked away, making Sho wonder dreamily if maybe when his sister came to take her pet back he shouldn’t get a dog with a weird name too. 


End file.
